Peabody's Birthday
by TheLordismyGod
Summary: Sherman wants to give Mr. Peabody a birthday party, but he enlists the help of Penny, which may not have been the best idea.
1. Author's Note

For anyone who isn't aware, March 26, 2000 is Mr. Peabody's birthday, according to an image on Tumblr. I can't remember exactly where it was from, but I'm pretty sure it was official. We are also to assume the events of the movie happen in real time, as in, near when the movie came out. Evidenced by us getting the literal "Present day" subtitle, and the fact that the newspaper clipping of Peabody adopting Sherman shows July 20, 2006 as the date. The same post with Peabody's birthday on Tumblr also reveals that Sherman's birthday is April 15, but no year. Since the events of the movie happen in present day September, which is roughly 6 months after April, (technically October 15 is 6 months after April 15, so you weren't QUITE yet 7 ½ Sherman) and 7 years after 2006 is 2013, this means Sherman's birthday is April 15, 2006, and the events of the movie take place in September 2013, likely the 3rd, because that would've been the first day of school for most districts. MEANING, Peabs is a whopping 13 years old when the movie happens, thus throwing any question of whether he has the lifespan of a dog out the window. SO, I wanted to write this story for his birthday, on or near these present days, March 23-26, 2018, which means he is 17 years old, soon to be 18 in a few days, and Sherman is 11, soon to be 12 in a few weeks. This also made me realize that I wrote about the future in Home and Time is a Matter of Perspective, pretty cool. I also have one for Sherman's birthday-ish that's been in rough draft form for a couple years now already, but I have a different use for it in a new project I am working on…

My writing style also seems to have gone through some major changes recently. If you haven't already gathered from any of my previous fics, my writing style is more 'dialog oriented' Meaning dialog takes up the majority of what I write, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I read fics all the time where there are just paragraphs and paragraphs of described detail, and there isn't anything wrong with that either, I love it. I want to write that way too, but when I just write naturally I don't really do that. But recently I've noticed that I'm describing more, details of scenes around characters, what they're thinking, etc. and I think that's contributing to my chapter/fic lengths and I think that started with Time is a Matter of Perspective. I didn't plan at all to make this long and was originally going to put it in Drabble Collection, but it quickly ballooned into this 5k word story and definitely wouldn't be considered a drabble anymore.

Warning: I am a major Marvel fanboy, and I can imagine Sherman would be too, so there's some rather in-depth Marvel conversation in this.

Also, my first time writing Leonardo, yay! Hopefully I keep him in character and don't butcher his accent.


	2. Friday March 23, 2018

**Friday March 23, 2018**

"Penny!"

The blonde swung around as Sherman called her. She smiled as her best friend made his way toward her through the throng of students eager to get out of school and live their weekend to the fullest.

"Hey Sherman, last class of the day?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I wanted to ask you something."

She shifted her bag further up her shoulder. "Sure, what is it?"

"Can you help me with a birthday party for Mr. Peabody?" he asked.

Her face flashed with realization. "Oh yeah, it's his birthday soon isn't it?"

"Yeah, on Monday." Sherman nodded.

She smirked. "Man, how old would that make him? Wouldn't he be over a hundred years old by now?"

Sherman laughed. "Yes, a hundred and nineteen, but since he's not like most dogs, we just count his birthdays normally instead, makes it easier, which would mean he's going to be eighteen."

"That's kinda weird…" Penny said as she turned to start walking toward the front doors.

"How come?" Sherman asked as he started following her.

"Well, I mean, he's seventeen now, a teenager in our terms and… he is your dad, and has been for the past eleven years…" She said slowly.

Sherman shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it's weird, but what does it matter? He was in college before that, so it's obviously not like he had the same maturity level for his age."

"I guess." She shrugged too.

"So, will you help me?" he asked again as they pushed through the front doors. They both squinted as the bright afternoon sunlight hit their eyes.

"Of course. What did you have in mind?" Penny said as they walked down the steps.

"Well, normally on his birthday we travel in the WABAC to some time, but I thought it would be fun to give him a birthday party **in** some other time, namely with Leonardo Da Vinci." Sherman said as they stopped and stood at the curb, waiting for their parents.

Penny grinned. "That sounds like an awesome idea Sherman!"

Sherman smiled too. "Yeah, Mr. Da Vinci is probably his favorite historical person, we visit him the most."

Penny laughed. "Probably because he's a nerdy engineer just like your father. Have you asked Mr. Da Vinci yet?"

Sherman looked worried and wrung his hands. "No, and I haven't been able to whenever we're there. I never get a chance to be alone with him. Mr. Peabody is always with us."

"So, is this going to be a surprise party or…?" Penny questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's not going to be like a **real** surprise party, like where we jump out and yell 'happy birthday!' more like, it'll just be a surprise to Mr. Peabody that this party back in time is for him." Sherman said, smiling his goofy smile.

"Oh, well in that case…" Penny said, drawing her lips in an uncertain smile. "Has Mr. Peabody changed the access codes to the WABAC?"

Sherman's eyes widened. "NO. We're not doing that. I **knew** you'd suggest it." Sherman said firmly, folding his arms.

"Well I don't know what else you could do." Penny said shrugging her shoulders.

"You know what happened the last time I did that, which was all your fault by the way." Sherman half-glared at her.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, which means if I don't come with you this time, maybe the space time continuum won't blow up." She quipped.

"I'm sure it wouldn't if you did, but I don't want to take the risk." Sherman said.

"Well, no surprise party for Mr. Peabody then." Penny sighed with an air of finality to rub it in.

Sherman stood there, fidgeting, before finally sighing. "Ok fine, I'll do it."

He smiled and suddenly asked: "Do you want to come over for a sleepover tonight?"

Penny shook her head in confusion. "I thought we were going to plan Mr. Peabody's birthday?"

"We are, I just need a good reason for going down the elevator. You'll come over for a sleepover, and then tomorrow I'll say I'm going to the library with you."

"Ah… right." Penny nodded in understanding.

"I know!" she suddenly exclaimed. "We can say we're going to the library to study, but you'll go ask Mr. Da Vinci, and I'll get party supplies we can bring there."

"Noooo, we can't do that!" Sherman frowned and shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Well for one, American party supplies in the fifteen hundreds would be a dead giveaway, Mr. Peabody would **know** I took the WABAC without permission. Everything will have to come from there. So, we'll just go there together. And second, it already turned out disastrous for the timeline when everyone took something of America back with them."

"Oh… right. Well a sleepover sounds like fun anyway, I'll ask my parents once they get here." Penny smiled.

Just then Peabody drove up on the moped.

"Hello Sherman. Hello Ms. Peterson." He greeted them.

"Hi Mr. Peabody!" Sherman smiled at his father. "Can Penny come over for a sleepover tonight?"

Peabody chuckled. "Your enthusiasm suggests that you might not have talked to her about it yet."

"Oh, I did, she just has to ask her parents once they get here." He said. Penny nodded in agreement.

Peabody thought about it for a few seconds, mentally running over the calendar in his head.

"I believe we have room in our schedule." He finally said.

He turned to her and smiled. "Just ask your parents and if they say it is alright they can drop you off at around six."

Penny nodded again. "I'm sure they'll be ok with it."

"Bye Penny!" Sherman said as he got into the moped and put his helmet on.

"Bye Sherman!" Penny winked at him, and he winked back.

Peabody revved the moped and they drove out of the wraparound entrance of the school and into the street.

"So Sherman, how was school?" Peabody asked him.

Sherman smiled. "I finally beat Michael in chess club today." He said happily.

Peabody smiled, proud of his son. "Congratulations Sherman. It seems all those chess lessons with me finally paid off."

"Maybe." Sherman sighed. "I've never beaten you, except that one time…"

"…that one time which was a result of my mind wandering, so you won by default. But you know what I always say, failure is the best teacher." Peabody smirked. "That and experience of course."

Sherman's phone chimed, telling him he had a text.

"Penny said her parents said it's ok and her parents will drop her off at six." Sherman said happily.

"Splendid." Peabody said.

They arrived home and after eating dinner Sherman worked on his homework as he waited for Penny.

Six o'clock finally arrived and they both heard the doorbell, or rather, elevator bell.

"I'll get it Dad!" Sherman shouted down the hall as he exited his room. He checked the video feed in the elevator on the little monitor next to the doors to verify it was Penny and pressed the button to let her in.

"Hi Penny." He greeted her as the doors opened. She had changed out of her school uniform and was wearing simple jeans and a light blue striped shirt, and she had a big duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hi Sherman." She replied, walking inside. "I've always wondered, how does security work for your house? Couldn't anyone just push the button for your floor, or even worse, the WABAC room?"

"Oh, the doors didn't open automatically, I had to make sure it was you in the elevator first, then push the button to open them and let you in. Have you ever noticed that little number keypad near the buttons? You have to enter the passcode to get in without Mr. Peabody or me checking first. Same goes for most of the secured floors, otherwise you can just press the button and go to that floor freely. And obviously the code for all the other floors are different than the one to our house or the WABAC. And there's a second elevator that only goes to the floor below the WABAC to reduce congestion."

"But what if you have a fire?" Penny asked as she followed Sherman down the hall to his room.

"We have a one-way door that leads to the fire escape stairs." Sherman said as he opened his bedroom door and walked in.

Penny nodded and threw her bag on the floor and put her hands on her hips.

"Ok, are we doing this? Planning Mr. Peabody's 'surprise' birthday party?" she asked as she air-quoted 'surprise'

Sherman opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a pen and notepad. "Yep."

They both stretched out on the floor and began to research how most birthdays were celebrated in Florence, Italy in the fifteen-hundreds.

The evening light finally faded away and Sherman had to turn on his overhead light.

Suddenly they both heard a knock at the door.

Penny frantically pulled all their notes together and shoved them under her sleeping bag.

"Come in." Sherman said.

Peabody poked his head in. "Children, I made popcorn. And Sherman, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. starts in 5 minutes, we don't want to miss it…" His brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you two doing?"

They were both sitting on the floor near Sherman's bed, seemingly doing nothing other than possibly talking, which Peabody found odd.

"…Playing." Sherman said innocently. And before Peabody could question further, Sherman quickly got up and ran past him, Penny following.

"Thanks dad, you're the best!" he said as he headed for the kitchen.

Peabody sputtered. "You're welcome… Sherman." He turned back to Sherman's room and looked at it curiously for a moment before turning and following them down the hall into the kitchen.

Sherman was a major Marvel fan and had all the comic books and enjoyed all the movies put out and the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He also wanted to watch the shows on Netflix, but Peabody refused. ("Absolutely not! They are way too violent and mature for you. Maybe when you turn 18.")

Penny was a casual fan, (she'd occasionally catch the show and watch a few of the movies) but not as much as the father and son.

They watched the episode and after it ended Sherman turned to Penny. "Did you catch the hundredth episode two weeks ago?"

Penny shook her head. "No, I didn't, what happened?"

"Fitz and Simmons finally got married!" Sherman said happily from his spot on the couch next to Peabody, bouncing up and down.

"Emphasis on the 'finally'." Peabody added.

"Oh yes, haven't they been a thing through the whole series pretty much?" Penny asked.

Peabody laughed. "Yes, they have been a 'thing' as you call it. What I don't understand is why they took so long to finally tie the knot. They were both aware of each other's affections." He put his paws together. "But, regardless, it's time for bed you two."

They finally brushed their teeth, changed into their pajamas, and went back to Sherman's room.

Sherman crawled into his bed and Penny slid into her sleeping bag.

"I can't wait for Infinity War, it's gonna be so cool!" Sherman suddenly exclaimed.

Penny cocked her head. "What's that?"

"The next movie! The big bad guy Thanos is finally coming to earth and all the heroes throughout all the movies are going to fight him together!" he said excitedly, poking his head over the edge of his bed.

"Ah. That should be fun."

Sherman frowned. "Although one or more characters might die."

"Oh." Penny sighed. "Ok, so tomorrow, we're going to tell Mr. Peabody that we're going to the library to study, but we're going to take the WABAC to Florence and ask Mr. Da Vinci if we can have a 'surprise' birthday party at his place for Mr. Peabody." She said as she looked up at the glow stars scattered across Sherman's bedroom ceiling.

"Yeah…" Sherman said, he had forgotten in his fun of having a sleepover with his friend that he was going to take the WABAC and now he didn't feel like doing that anymore.

Penny sensed his hesitation and sat up. "Don't tell me you're turning chicken now?"

"No! I'm still doing it." Sherman said, resolving himself despite his doubts to the contrary.

"Ok good, goodnight Sherman." Penny said.

"Goodnight Penny." Sherman said as he took his glasses off and placed them on his bedside table. He turned the light off and they were shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from the glow stars on Sherman's ceiling and the New York cityscape out his window.


	3. The Weekend

**Saturday March 24, 2018**

Sherman woke up before Penny. The morning light creeped onto his bed and finally his face, the rays of light waking him from his sleep. He squinted and yawned and sat up. Noticing Penny wasn't awake yet, he put his glasses on and carefully and quietly slid out of bed and padded out his bedroom door.

He walked into the living room and didn't see his father anywhere, he was likely not yet awake as well. Good thing too, because the turmoil going on in his head was troubling the boy. He stood at one of the large floor to ceiling windows watching the sunrise.

He still had doubts about taking the WABAC with Penny to see Leonardo Da Vinci. He hadn't taken the WABAC without permission in the four years it had been since the time continuum incident. He didn't really want to break that record. Even if everything went perfect, and Peabody never suspected a thing, Sherman knew he might have to live with that on his conscience, and he wasn't sure if he wanted that.

Suddenly Sherman heard the soft footfalls of his father. He turned and saw Mr. Peabody walking into the living room.

"Good morning Sherman." he smiled. "Why are you up so early? It's 8 in the morning. Since it's Saturday, your favorite day of the week, I thought you and Ms. Peterson would want to sleep in."

Sherman sighed and rubbed his face. "The sun woke me up." He said as Peabody walked over and stood next to him.

"Ah, I see." The two stood for a few moments enjoying the sunrise.

"Well, what would you and Ms. Peterson like for breakfast?" Peabody suddenly asked.

Sherman smiled at him. "Since it's your birthday on Monday, why don't you pick?"

Peabody grinned. "Why thank you, Sherman, that's very kind of you."

He turned and started walking toward the kitchen, but Sherman stopped him.

"Wait, Mr. Peabody? Can Penny come with us on your WABAC birthday trip?"

Peabody stopped and slowly turned around. Him and Sherman had gone on a father-son only WABAC trip for both of their birthdays every year since a couple years after its invention, when Sherman was old enough to understand what a 'birthday' was, including since Penny had started joining them on trips in it. And Peabody valued these times alone with Sherman, especially in recent years…

"Sherman, we always go on our birthday WABAC trips alone." He said, concerned.

Sherman bit his lip. "I know, but I just thought it would be fun to have Penny with us this time."

For a moment, Peabody was silent, and Sherman almost thought he might say no. But then he finally spoke.

"Alright then. Since you've never asked before I think it will be permissible for Penny to come with us. We can visit Leonardo Da Vinci, we are all acquainted with him the best."

Sherman snickered, "We visit Mr. Da Vinci every year on our birthdays." then smiled. "Thanks dad!" He said as he ran down the hall back to his room.

Peabody smiled back, happy to make his son happy. But his smile didn't stay on his muzzle very long as he walked into the kitchen and began preparing breakfast. Sherman and Penny had been acting really strangely recently, first in Sherman's room and now Sherman's request, which was highly unusual. Usually Penny was the one that asked to go on a trip in the WABAC or if she could come on one him and Sherman were already going on. Up until now Sherman had never asked for her. He figured he'd ask Sherman about it later.

After Penny woke up, they ate breakfast, brushed their teeth, and got dressed. Now it was time.

Sherman poked his head in his father's door. "Mr. Peabody, Penny and I are going to the library, we need to study for homework."

Peabody was sitting at his desk and raised his head from his paperwork. "How long will you be there?"

"Just a couple of hours." Penny said. "My parents are coming in a little bit to pick me up and thy can drive us there and bring Sherman back."

Peabody looked at the clock on his bedroom wall. "Alright, just be back by noon then."

They both nodded and bid farewell and walked toward the elevator. Sherman slowly pushed the button to call the elevator.

"We'll be fine Sherman, Mr. Peabody's already let you drive the WABAC lots of times before." Penny said in an attempt to ease the tension.

"Yeah, but that's because he was there and able to take over if anything went wrong." Sherman countered.

The elevator opened and they both stepped inside. Sherman quickly pushed the WABAC floor button and entered the passcode.

It opened at the WABAC floor and Sherman could see the large red vault door looming in the distance.

They both stepped out and the elevator doors closed.

He steeled his nerves as he walked forward and began to walk faster, Penny following. He knew he could do this. It was just a matter of whether Mr. Peabody permitted him to. Since the time continuum incident Mr. Peabody had started letting Sherman drive the WABAC by himself of course, but every time Mr. Peabody was present. There had not yet been any discussion between them of whether Sherman could take the WABAC literally by himself anywhere.

Before Sherman knew it, they had reached the big red door and he entered the passcode. The door swung open and the red platform began moving forward. As they stepped onto it, the WABAC's steps unfolded to meet it. They walked up into it and he sat down in the driver's seat and Penny took the passenger's seat next to him.

Using years of habit, knowledge, and experience he easily powered it up, set the coordinates for a few days after the last time they had visited Leonardo Da Vinci and pushed the red button. The WABAC started spinning and the pretty blue strands of light began engulfing the time machine. Soon they were flying through the wormhole.

The trip through the wormhole was quite uneventful. Soon the WABAC touched down in Florence, Italy in 1512 on Da Vinci's lawn during a pleasant spring morning.

After changing into period correct clothing, they left the WABAC and walked toward Leonardo's front door and up the brick steps. Sherman raised a hand to knock but before he could knock the large brown wooden door swung open and Leonardo himself appeared, dressed in his favorite red gown and blue vest.

He looked down at the two and broke into a large smile.

"Ah Sherman! How 'a are you today?!" he said, gripping Sherman up in a hug and then setting him back down.

"I'm ok, thank you Mr. Da Vinci." Sherman said, smiling.

"I thought I heard 'a the noise of that time machine of yours. And Penny is with you as well, welcome!"

"Hello Mr. Da Vinci." she responded.

Da Vinci looked around before turning to Sherman quizzically. "Where 'a is your padre, Peabody?"

"He… isn't here." Sherman said slowly.

"Isn't here? Why 'a not?" Da Vinci asked.

"Because we wanted to talk to you alone, about something." Sherman said.

"Well letsa not talk on the porch, why don't you come in and we can talk about it, eh?" Da Vinci said, gesturing for the two to come inside.

They sat down on Da Vinci's couch and Sherman explained to him what he wanted to do. He showed Da Vinci their notes and he was of course more than excited to contribute his home and help Sherman prepare a birthday celebration for Peabody.

"When isa his birthday?" Da Vinci asked.

"The day after tomorrow." Sherman said, briefly forgetting that he wasn't in his own time, and that the date he was referring to was over half a millennium into the future.

"The day 'a after tomorrow?!" Da Vinci exclaimed. "Well then we have not 'a moment to lose! Come!"

Da Vinci headed for the kitchen and called his servants to help him. Sherman and Penny followed and spent most of the day helping Da Vinci (as best they could) cook and decorate his house for Peabody's birthday.

Before they knew it, they were finished, and had a small feast of a birthday meal prepared, enough for 4 people. Da Vinci had even prepared some cannoli and gelato.

"So! Are you 'a going to fetch Peabody now, or...? I 'a don't know how this time travel business works." Da Vinci asked.

"Well, yes, but this is supposed to be a surprise, so don't say anything. We're going back home, and we'll be back in a few minutes. And **please** don't tell Mr. Peabody that we came here alone." Sherman said.

They waved goodbye and entered the WABAC. As they flew through the time stream, Sherman configured the WABAC to take their next trip to Florence a few minutes after they had just left. He then configured the WABAC to arrive two hours later from when they had left the penthouse.

The WABAC emerged from the wormhole and Sherman quickly powered it down and they rushed out the door. After ensuring the red vault door closed and locked behind them they took the elevator back up to the penthouse.

"Ok," Penny smiled. "That went well. So, on Monday we'll go visit Mr. Da Vinci, but Mr. Peabody will be none the wiser."

"Right." Sherman smiled, he felt a little better, now that the main part of their idea was finished and had gone according to plan.

The doors opened.

Penny looked at her phone. "My parents are here. I'll see you later Sherman."

"Bye Penny." Sherman said as he stepped out and Penny pushed the button for the ground floor.

He soon discovered that Peabody was not in the penthouse, and found a note attached the refrigerator in the kitchen, written in his impeccable penmanship of course.

' _Sherman,_

 _I have taken a brief stroll down to floor 10, where I am looking over a prototype we have been developing. I prepared your lunch, it is at your normal seat at the dining room table._

 _Please come see me on floor 10 once you are finished just so I can know you arrived home._

 _Mr. Peabody'_

Sherman looked in the dining room and noticed that there was a sandwich of some kind sitting at his place. He eagerly devoured the PB&J sandwich and then took the elevator down to the 10th floor, where Peabody and the other scientists greeted him and were all too eager to show him the prototype artificial heart they were working on.

The rest of the day passed without issue.

* * *

 **Sunday March 25, 2018**

Sunday passed mostly without issue as well. The only problem came at bedtime when Peabody was tucking Sherman in and saying goodnight.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Sherman?" he asked suddenly, looking at Sherman with a neutral expression.

Sherman's eyes darted to his fathers, and he quickly denied it.

"No." he said smiling.

Peabody nodded, accepting Sherman's response.

"Well, if there's ever anything you want to tell me, anything at all, know that you can come to me" Peabody said, smiling tenderly at him.

"Yes, Mr. Peabody." Sherman said, yawning.

"Try and get to sleep, we have a big day tomorrow." Peabody said as he walked toward Sherman's door. "Goodnight Sherman, I love you."

"I love you too, Mr. Peabody." Sherman said as he turned over.

Peabody turned the light off and shut the door.


	4. Monday March 26, 2018

**Monday March 26, 2018**

School didn't just stop because your father had a birthday, so on the years where Peabody's birthday fell on a school day, they would hold all birthday festivities until after Sherman got out of school. As such, Monday morning passed normally, aside from Sherman wishing his father a happy birthday and Peabody accepting it warmly. Peabody then dropped Sherman off at school and Penny let her parents know she would go home with Sherman after.

School finally let out and Sherman and Penny both stood at the curb waiting for Peabody. They finally saw a taxi pull up and Peabody opened the door and signaled them to come in.

They both jumped in the taxi and sat down. They both assumed that Peabody took a taxi because they both wouldn't fit in the moped and didn't question him about it.

Penny did however wish him a happy birthday.

"Happy Birthday Mr. Peabody." She said.

He smiled at her. "Thank you, Ms. Peterson." He then addressed the cabbie. "Corner of West 57th and 7th Avenue, my good sir."

The cabbie nodded and began to drive.

"So… you're officially an adult now, huh?" Penny said.

Peabody looked at her curiously. "What, may I ask, are you referring to?"

Sherman piped up. "She's talking about your age Mr. Peabody, you're 18 now, officially an adult." He giggled.

"Of course, but I fail to grasp the humor in my age."

"At 18 you can finally get married and have kids…" Sherman trailed off.

It finally clicked. Peabody realized why it was funny. He didn't think it was, but he understood why they thought it was.

"I see. You and Ms. Peterson find it humorous how I have technically been a father to you unlawfully for 11 years."

They nodded.

"You two must realize that age and maturity are two very different factors and generally are not dependent on one another. People mature at different rates with myself being an extreme example of that; I was fully matured when I was only 2 years old." Peabody said in his detached academic persona.

"Yes, we know, Mr. Peabody." Sherman smirked.

They finally arrived at Peabody Industries and took the elevator up to the penthouse first, so Sherman could drop off his backpack and change out of his school uniform.

Before long they were walking toward the big red door and into the WABAC. Sherman watched as Peabody set the coordinates for Florence Italy but sighed internally as he didn't change the exact time they would arrive.

Soon they were in Florence Italy in the evening, wearing their period correct clothing, and walking towards Da Vinci's front door. But again, before anyone could knock, the door swung open to reveal Da Vinci, just as Sherman and Penny had left him on Saturday (from their perspective).

"Ah! Peabody, welcome!" he exclaimed. "Come in!"

"Greetings, Leonardo, I-" Peabody said as they walked in, but stopped himself as a wonderful smell met his sensitive nose.

"What is that delicious smell?" he asked, but then noticed the small feast laid out on Da Vinci's dining table. There were different kinds of pasta, spaghetti and fettuccini, focaccia bread, and of course, cannoli and gelato for dessert.

"Do you have guests?" he asked.

But Sherman and Penny saved Da Vinci the trouble of answering by yelling happily: "Happy Birthday Mr. Peabody!"

Peabody's mouth opened in surprise.

"This is for me?"

"Yes, Penny and I helped Mr. Da Vinci prepare it." Sherman said.

"Well that is wonderful Sherman, thank you." Peabody smiled at him. He didn't question how Sherman found the time to do so but went along with it.

They sat down and began to enjoy the meal, talking happily and catching up. Afterwards Da Vinci showed them as couple of inventions he was currently working on.

Soon the evening light gave way to darkness and the stars popped out and Peabody decided it was time to go home, but not before they helped Da Vinci clean up.

"Thank you so much for the birthday meal, Leonardo, it was very appetizing, almost as good as my own cooking." Peabody said as they finished.

"It wasa no trouble at all Peabody, anything for my good friend." Da Vinci smiled.

"Well, we must be going. I don't want to intrude on your evening routine." Peabody smiled back.

They said their goodbyes and traveled back home. Penny's parents came and picked her up and soon Sherman and Peabody were alone in the penthouse.

Sherman turned to go to his room. "Well, it's a school night, so I'm going to get ready for bed Mr. Peabody." He said.

"Sherman," Mr. Peabody stopped him. "I know."

Sherman turned around. "You k-know what?" he asked, smiling timidly.

"I know you took the WABAC." Peabody said simply.

"I'm sorry Mr. Peabody! It's just I wanted to do something really special for your birthday and-" Sherman suddenly burst forth, trying to explain himself.

"Sherman, Sherman! Calm down, I'm not angry at you." Peabody stopped him in his tracks before he could confess further.

"You're not?" Sherman asked.

"No, I'm not. I'm just disappointed." Peabody sighed. "First you must realize Sherman that you cannot hide anything from me when it comes to the WABAC. Although I first suspected you and Ms. Peterson were planning something on Friday I knew immediately when you took it on Saturday. I got a notification that the WABAC was being used, along with the date and location. Given the nature of time travel I implemented these and many other security features when I first built it, so that anyone who attempts to steal it will have a particularly hard time trying to do so. Of course, you were able to actually take it because you know the codes."

"I'm sorry Mr. Peabody…" Sherman said quietly.

Peabody walked closer to Sherman and placed a paw on his shoulder, which was rather hard to do, as Sherman was taller than him. "The reason I'm not angry is because even though I've let you drive the WABAC many times before now, I've never explicitly said you cannot take it anywhere by yourself. Thus, you couldn't really be disobeying me if you were to take it."

Sherman felt relieved, but he still looked at Peabody curiously. "Well… why didn't you say anything?" he asked.

"Because I was curious to see if you would ever tell me on your own. I gave you a chance to tell me on Sunday, but you didn't, hence my disappointment. I know you thought what you were doing was wrong because you were doing it behind my back, of which I'm sure Ms. Peterson was also an accomplice."

"Yeah, she was… I'm really sorry, Mr. Peabody…" Sherman mumbled again.

Peabody patted his shoulder. "I'm sure you are sorry. But you have got to stop giving in to her impulsive whims, Sherman. I myself am even more so vulnerable to the pressures of, well, peer pressure. I have one question for you Sherman: Was it worth it?"

Sherman tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sure this weighed heavily on your conscience, did it not?"

Sherman frowned and nodded. "It did…"

Peabody nodded and smiled sadly. "And did that help or hinder your ability to enjoy your father's special day with him?"

"Hindered…" Sherman said.

Peabody wrapped his arms around Sherman in a hug and Sherman leaned down to hug him back. "Well, thank you very much for the birthday, Sherman." He smiled. "Even though you may not have enjoyed it to the fullest, I still enjoyed it immensely."

Sherman smiled as they parted. "You're welcome, dad."

"Now…" he said. Sherman tensed, his father was using that all too familiar serious tone of voice he would use when Sherman was younger, and he did something wrong. Peabody was about to lay down the law of the house.

"I feel that I need to do something about this, but, I don't consider you directly disobeying me. Therefore, why give a consequence for something I've never told you specifically not to do? I originally decided I would change the access codes to the WABAC, and you would not know what they are, but I have decided to abandon that course of action, and simply let you off with a warning, and to implement a new rule regarding the WABAC: You are not to take it anywhere without me."

Sherman nodded fervently and sighed, relieved. His father still trusted him. "Yes, Mr. Peabody, thank you."

Peabody smiled. "You're welcome Sherman."

In the end, his father got a nice birthday, which is all he wanted, but Sherman still learned that sometimes the ends don't always justify the means.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed that. I know it's not one of my better works, and I even thought about giving up, but by that time I had already written most of it and didn't want what I had written to go to waste. But hopefully/maybe its length makes up for that. Honestly, as I wrote it I became less interested in Peabody's birthday and much more interested in developing the whole 'Sherman takes the WABAC' plot thread, causing the major focus of the whole story to become less about Peabody's birthday and more about Sherman and him taking the WABAC and learning a lesson. Stay tuned as I'm currently working on my biggest project since Ransomed Memories…**


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